In first world terms, I’ve had one of the most stressful months in my recent history. Let me put it this way – this past weekend I’ve had to move into a new flat after I scorched every bridge with our previous landlord (burst pipes, mould and a 15 month baby girl isn’t a great combination). On top of that, I am getting married in just under 2 weeks.
So what better way to chill out than to go to the cinema for the first time in just under a year? Better yet, why not watch the highly acclaimed animation flick The Lego Movie? Awesome, right?
Well, not entirely. It may have been my mood or the fact that Lego has never played a big part in my life but I found the film hugely disappointing. I don’t think there is anything special (ha!) about this film and its narrative of the every man trying to find what makes him unique felt… meh. It just didn’t grab me, but I’m not sure whether that is because this is a bad film or this is a film where the references and jokes just flew over my head.
I did love the Batman character and Liam Neeson’s Bad Cop – those characters constantly made me giggle but I was waiting for that belly of laughs that everyone around me in the cinema were experiencing.
I think this film may have been overegged and it really isn’t as smart or as funny as it should have been. When comparing Lego to another recent animation hit, Wreck-it-Ralph, things get even more embarrassing for the bricked based film. Wreck it Ralph’s satire is sharper, it’s references wittier and the generic ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ narrative is much more interesting.
I personally felt like I was watching a very long Lego advert – but that is just me. To be clear, I was grumpy as hell when watching this and it sounded like the whole cinema thoroughly enjoyed the film.
(more Chocolate Film fun can be found at my blog)
Just a normal everyday bloke writing about films.